I hosted Easter brunch this year. I thought it was a good idea until reality hit; our house is small, I have an eight month old who is now crawling all over the place, and I really didn’t want to host anything. Period. I decided to delegate, a lot. I made the dessert, and basically had my mom make the rest (and of course our guests brought some things). Even though we ate late, around 3pm, I still thought a brunch menu would be better than the typical ham, fruit and salad. I had this great frittata recipe that I had been wanting to make for a while, and I figured what better time than Easter?!

We doubled the recipe and made two large frittatas, which ended up serving seven hungry guests perfectly. Paired with some fruit and a kale salad (recipe coming soon) we were all pleasantly stuffed!

Preheat the oven to broil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper until smooth. Fold in the cheese and tomatoes, set aside.

In a medium oven-safe frying pan (or cast-iron skillet) over medium heat, melt butter. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Pour the egg mixture over the spinach and cook until almost set, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil until golden brown on top, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn onto a serving plate.

Notes

** If you are following a low FODMAPs diet you have some options to modify. The heavy cream contains lactose, as does the Swiss cheese. For most people the amount of lactose from the ~2T heavy cream in this recipe (per serving) shouldn't cause side effects, and since Swiss cheese is a lower lactose cheese, you should be fine. However, if you are very sensitive to lactose I have used soy milk in the past for frittatas and they have turned out well (just use plain, original, unflavored soy milk). Most importantly, omit the onions and replace them with chives (chives are low FODMAPs and taste like onion). I used ¼ cup chopped chives for one small onion.

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I took a bunch of photos from the same angle. How many ways can you photograph a frittata anyway? Not many, especially when you lack patience for food photography (not a good trait in a food blogger). We also had some really delicious jalapeño cheddar bread from Giant Eagle Market District with this meal. I had a small but satisfying piece. Heavenly.

I have a thing for tuna. If I could, I’d eat it every day, straight out of the can (or pouch) and be happy. I get really giddy when salad bars have tuna on them. I load up. I’d bring tuna in my lunch bag every day if only it didn’t stink up my entire office. It’s a shame, really. And of course there is the whole mercury thing (which I only really worry about now since I’m still pumping). Read more about that below.

Tuna Burgers with Pimento Mayo

So anyway, these tuna burgers….they were amazing. When I made them I doubled the recipe and froze the second half (I try to do this whenever I can. I mean, I take full advantage of anytime I have in the kitchen these days). I also made a few extra burgers for Paige, without some of the added ingredients (ie: I simply used breadcrumbs, tuna and just a little mayo to make the patties). I gave them to her without a bun. She enjoyed, just like her mommy.

As a nursing mother, and someone who would like to have another baby in the future, I am fully aware that most women don’t get enough omega-3 during these precious times in their lives. I took DHA supplements when I was pregnant, and for the first few months while breastfeeding. Now? I aim for 1-2 servings (~4-5 ounces) of tuna or salmon a week, and forget the supplements. Going back to what I said about tuna and mercury; there has been a lot of controversy about whether women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should eat tuna and whether the benefits outweigh the risks. The overall consensus, based on what I’ve seen, is that the benefits do outweigh the risks. If you want to read more check out this article. If you’re going to have tuna it’s best to choose the “chunk light”, which is lower in mercury. Sadly, however, the albacore has more omega-3. You can’t win, can you?! It’s ok though, the light tuna is still providing a good source of omega-3, not to worry. So, make these burgers.

Combine tuna, breadcrumbs, ¼ cup mayonnaise, half of the pimientos, celery, onion and ¼ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning in a medium bowl, breaking up any larger pieces of tuna until the mixture is uniform and holds together.

Combine the remaining ¼ cup mayonnaise, the remaining pimientos and ¼ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning in a bowl.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Using a generous ⅓ cup each, form the tuna mixture into four 3-inch burgers. Cook until heated through and golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

Spread the top half of each bun (or English muffin) with pimiento mayonnaise and place a burger, lettuce and tomato on the bottom half.

Notes

** If you are following a low FODMAPs diet you could use gluten free bread crumbs, or just use regular bread crumbs because really the amount in this recipe shouldn't be enough to cause problems. I would recommend gluten free buns or English Muffins if you are really sensitive to fructans (an Oligosaccharide), but like I said I can typically handle 2 slices of whole wheat bread and you may too. I omitted the onion and the celery (FODMAPs) and used a garlic-infused olive oil instead of regular olive oil.

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I kept the Old Bay Seasoning in there because, wahoo, it’s low FODMAPs! Do you know I just realized that not too long ago? It does contain celery seed, which may sound confusing since celery isn’t low FODMAPs, but the seed portion of celery isn’t where the FODMAPs lurk. If you want to use a gluten-free (therefore low FODMAPs) bread, you could, but I didn’t, as 1-2 slices of bread doesn’t effect me too much. I rarely eat bread anyway.

As I mentioned above, these froze really well. They were simply delicious, even when thawed. Nick and I feasted on them for a few nights and enjoyed them each night, even as they became “leftovers”. They were even good alone without the bread and mayo (ok, I may be biased since, as mentioned, I am a tuna freak). Make them soon. See you next week with a frittata recipe!

I was at the airport recently and decided to buy the Food Network’s magazine to peruse some good Spring recipes. I was pleasantly surprised with all the great recipes I found. I’m picky, after all. I need simple, and fairly low FODMAPs (or at least modifiable enough to be low FODMAPs). I knew I was hosting a small Easter gathering on Easter Sunday so I had that in mind as I flew high above the clouds and turned the pages (sad, let me be honest, that the SkyMall magazine was no where in site).

I came across these carrot cake cookie sandwiches and knew I had to make them. Nick and I list carrot cake as our all-time favorite cake (although truthfully white wedding cake might be a notch higher on the list for me) and last Easter my cousin made a gluten free carrot cake that was, in a word, gross. Don’t worry, she doesn’t read this blog and also she knew it wasn’t good. It would have been better had she cooked it a bit longer. So this year I knew I wasn’t going to make a carrot cake (who has time for that?!) but these cookie sandwiches sounded simple enough. And, they were.

The recipe can be found here.I modified them to be gluten free (for my cousin) by using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free oat flour instead of all-purpose flour. Because of this I cooked them for a total of sixteen minutes instead of twenty. By using the gluten free flour these were also lower FODMAPs (since wheat flour contains wheat, which contains galactans). I also used gluten free oats (not necessary if you are following a low FODMAPs diet, but necessary if you have Celiac). I made some without raisins since dried fruit, in general, aren’t low FODMAPs, but also because Nick “doesn’t like fruit in his carrot cake”. For those following a low FODMAPs diet, you could also just reduce the raisin amount by half and you should be fine (I personally like some raisins in my carrot cake!).

This was my test batch, so I know our guests on Sunday will love these, as the second time I make them they will be perfection. Pure perfection. Healthy? No, not at all, but delicious and a great way to celebrate Easter, and for some, the end of a long time without sugar (or whatever else people give up these days).

Back when I was a supermarket dietitian I worked with a very talented dietitian named Kelli. Check out her Facebook page, as she posts daily recipes that are sure to make you drool. Recently one day at work I was perusing Facebook (yes, it’s true, I do that) and I spotted one of her recipes for “Peanut Butter Granola Bars”, which of course, made me drool. I printed the recipe, and made them the next day. Per usual I modified the recipe (which is what I do best) so that I could eat them (i.e.: I made half of them low FODMAPs) and Paige could eat them (i.e.: I omitted the salt, raisins and chocolate in half of them, and cooked them for less time so they were less crumbly). Today I’ll share with you the original recipe from Kelli, plus my modifications in the notes section.

Spread the mixture into a sprayed 8x8 "brownie" size pan or divide evenly into 24 mini muffin tins. For the 8x8 bake at 325 for 17-18 minutes or until it has reached your preferred level of browning. For the mini muffin tins they only take about 10 minutes! Store in an airtight bag and place in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Notes

* If you are following a low FODMAPs diet, use plain regular yogurt instead of applesauce. There will be lactose in this, but not enough to cause side effects for most people. Also, use maple syrup instead of honey. Lastly, omit the raisins (or just use them, as there probably aren't enough in this recipe to cause side-effects. Raisins do contain high amounts of fructans, however).

For Baby: If you want to use this recipe for your young infant, omit the salt and the raisins. I also omitted the chocolate, but if your young one is older he/she may be able to handle the chocolate, just get dark chocolate with less sugar, and maybe melt it a bit so it's soft (you could melt it and drizzle it on top!). I was a little worried about the oats and the chia, but Paige sort of sucks on them so they were soft and more likely to go down with ease. These bars will be best for an infant who has been doing BLW for at least a month or two, in my opinion. I also cooked them for a little less time so they were more chewy.

I found that these bars (or..cups??) weren’t very sweet, yet they were the perfect little “sweet” snack for a mid-day craving. I even tried them without the maple syrup and they were still delicious! I’m starting to learn that I really don’t like sweet foods unless they are desserts. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love sweets, but for snacks and little treats throughout the day, I don’t like anything really sweet. For my nightly dessert? Bring on the sugar. My small dish of ice cream needs to be the real thing!

When Paige ate hers she sort of just sucked on it. I stayed close by because I was a little worried about the toasted oats. She’s been doing the baby led weaning for over a month now so I felt pretty good about it, but the oats were small and I felt a little trepid. As she sucked on the bars the oats and the chia got soggy and easier for her to handle.

Oh, and just a side note, little Paige is standing on her own (leaning against a toy) and getting more mobile everyday. It’s scary, yet so exciting. Look at those little feet! She’s seven months now and I’m already planning her 1-year birthday. I know I’m insane. I think I’m really just planning the cake (I’m obsessed with those one year cake photos).

I’ll be back soon with a Simple One-Pot Thai Chicken recipe. Have a great one!

Now that Paige is old enough to entertain herself a bit more, I’ve been able to spend a bit more time in the kitchen. For a while there I was in the middle of a major dry spell, literally going weeks (months) without cooking anything. We weren’t ordering out or eating out at restaurants, I was simply making eggs and other simple foods like quick tacos with ground turkey and taco seasoning, instead of anything that required following a recipe or multiple steps (or dishes). I was also using the slow cooker a lot because I could make triple the amount in half the time. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy easy recipes and prefer quick and simple methods, but it’s nice to finally have time to get out a cookbook and go to town. In fact I’ve finally found the time to plan meals for not only Nick and me but also other families (i.e.: we’ve been venturing out and going to friend’s houses, fancy that!). As I’ve begun perusing the internet and my multitude of unopened cookbooks, I’ve found two new marinades that will forever be staples in my recipe portfolio (umm, my recipe portfolio is my blog, I guess, right??). The first one is for tofu; “Vegan Lemon “Chicken” Baked Tofu”.

Last year at this time Nick and I gave up meat for lent. I was pregnant and it seemed as though nothing I ate bothered me (basically my IBS was gone!), therefore going vegetarian was easy for me because I could eat beans and tofu without consequences. Now, no longer pregnant, if I eat one bite of beans or tofu (despite tofu actually being considered low FODMAPs) I have gas for hours. Therefore I decided to spare my family this year and continue being an omnivore. However, Nick has decided to take on the vegetarian challenge, therefore I made this tofu recipe for him. I do believe this marinade would work well with chicken too. I’ve yet to try it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t taste just as good. It tasted great. It was the perfect low FODMAPs simple marinade. I took the risk and took a few bites.

This was just too simple, I almost felt bad about it. I made this to bring to our friend’s house one night for dinner. It tasted like I had slaved over it for hours, but in reality the marinade did al the work/hard labor (I let it marinade for almost 24-hours). This marinade needed zero modifications, as it was already low FODMAPs (scallions are a great replacement for onions,as they are low FODMAPs, but keep in mind the only low FODMAPs portion is the green part, not the white oniony part).

By the time this chicken was ready the lighting was awful. Sorry for the poor photo, it doesn’t do this chicken justice. This marinade was the perfect blend of sweet and savory spice. Just amazing.

If you ever have a marinade recipe that calls for garlic and/or onion, keep in mind you can exclude those and replace them with a garlic or Tuscan olive oil (to make it low FODMAPs). You can still get the flavor without the FODMAPs (FODMAPs are water soluble, not fat soluble). I hope you enjoy these two marinades. I know we did! Next post will be a stuffed eggplant recipe I made the other day. I’ve always been a fan of eggplant because first, I love the taste, and second, it’s loaded with soluble fiber. Happy Sunday!

The following post is sponsored by The Canned Food Alliance. I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight a product that I truly and legitimately enjoy and use on a weekly basis.

As a dietitian I’ve sort of been wired to teach people that “fresh is best”. But then, what are canned foods doing in my diet? Perhaps the “fresh is best” slogan no longer holds true. After all, canned foods fit into a healthy diet, and they fit well. Canned (and frozen) foods have been processed in a way that actually locks in their nutrients, and in some respects they could even be considered a more nutrient dense choice than some fresh fruits and veggies (yes, I said it, gasp!). Both canned and frozen fruits and veggies are picked at their peak ripeness, cooked, blanched, and either pressure canned or frozen. Signed, sealed, delivered, without further nutrient loss. Fresh fruits and veggies, while also chock full of nutrients, start to lose their nutrition as soon as they are harvested, leave the farm, and travel for (sometimes) days on end before ending up on your supermarket shelves. Yes, many of their nutrients are still intact, but these loses aren’t an issue at all with canned produce. I’ve been using canned foods to increase my intake of fruits and veggies for many years. After all, it’s not always easy practicing what I preach (and by that I mean making half my plate fruits and/or vegetables), but with canned foods it is much easier. If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know about my past obsession with canned pumpkin (don’t remember? Check out this post, Pumpkin Breakfast Parfaits).

February is American Heart Month, and as you may or may not have known it’s also Canned Food Month (hence the post), but most importantly, it also happens to be the month my husband and I decided to pay a visit to our new friend; Baby Finn! Our friends Amy and Matt had a baby in mid-January and we stopped by the other day with a heart-healthy meal for the new family; Chia Meatballs (shhh, don’t tell them there was chia in there) and a Kale Salad with Oranges and Apples. The chia meatball recipe can be found on my Facebook page (and, might I add, the delicious sauce was made from canned diced tomatoes, one of my favorite cabinet staples). The Kale and Orange Salad recipe can be found below.

Place the kale in a medium bowl and drizzle the dressing on top. Toss a few times until well coated with the dressing. Let the kale sit for about 10 minutes, tossing often to re-coat with the dressing. Add the remaining ingredients, toss again, divide between two plates and serve.

Notes

* NOTE: If you are following a low FODMAPs diet, keep in mind that apples aren't low FODMAPs. However, for most people a couple slices is well tolerated. Also, when looking for a canned mandarin orange to use for this recipe, watch out for any with high fructose corn syrup, which isn't low FODMAPs. Look for a canned mandarin that is not sweetened with HFCS (I used one that is sweetened with Sucralose, or Splenda. You could also use one sweetened simply with sugar).

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This salad was a hit. While I was making it all I could think of were ways I could modify it to fit certain times of the year. For example, wouldn’t it be great as a holiday salad with pomegranate, cranberries and canned pear? I’d probably add walnuts in that case, instead of sunflower seeds. I was also thinking about how this salad could go from a side dish to a main dish by adding beans for protein and fiber, or canned protein like salmon or chicken. That’s the great thing about canned foods; they take little prep and they are an easy way to add variety to your diet, and fill in nutrient gaps. Adding beans to any meal can boost heart-healthy magnesium and fiber (two nutrients Americans tend to lack), whereas adding fruit such as mandarins or grapefruit can boost vitamin C. If you’d like more simple salad recipes, similar to the one above, or more complex, check out the recipe stash at MeatTime.org. They also have recipes for soups, desserts, dips, and just about anything you can imagine.

Before I head out I want to share some things about canned foods and FODMAPs, because I’ve sort of become a low FODMAPs blogger. One of the reasons I’m so keen on canned foods is because FODMAPs are all water-soluble so cooking and especially high-pressure canning can help get rid of them (i.e.: it’s been hypothesized that FODMAPs can leach out into the water, so straining the cans could potentially strain out many FODMAPs in foods like canned lentils). Regardless of if you are following a low FODMAPs diet or not, it’s still a good idea to strain your canned goods, especially vegetables, as this can reduce the sodium up to 36 percent. If you strain and rinse you can reduce the sodium by up to 41 percent. You could also simply buy low sodium or reduced sodium canned vegetables. As for sugar, I’m not exactly sure how much you can reduce the sugar by straining and rinsing, but it certainly would help. You could also start by purchasing fruits in “light syrup” vs. “heavy syrup”.

So in celebration of American Heart Month and Canned Food Month, remember canned foods do fit into a healthy and balanced diet. Use them to your advantage, put away the excuses, and start building that healthy balanced plate!

Of course, you could always be like Paige and get your fiber from paper. It’s her newest obsession. “Mommy, fiber is good for my heart!”

I’ve always been jealous of those who can eat a cauliflower pizza crust. I mean, I love pizza, but don’t love all the carbs! When the cauliflower pizza crust recipes got popular I wanted to try one so bad, but I knew that my body would repond with foul gas (you know, those cruciferous veggies..). Beano only does so much. Broccoli, however, doesn’t both me as much as cauliflower because it doesn’t contain the polyols (the “P” in FODMAPs), and therefore I thought I’d try a crust recipe with broccoli.

In a food processor pulse the broccoli until it looks like small grains of rice (about that size).

In a large bowl combine the broccoli, quinoa, cheese, yogurt and egg whites, along with the oregano, salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased pizza stone and spread evenly with your hands or a spatula.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until crust is crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

** NOTE: If you are following a low FODMAPs diet keep in mind that broccoli contains FODMAPs, but is typically safe in amounts of ½ cup or less (which is what you would get in 2 slices of this 8 slice pizza). Also, Parmesan cheese and Greek yogurt both contain lactose, which may be a problem for some, but keep in mind that both of these dairy sources are lower in lactose!

Definitely better than any cauliflower pizza crust! haha, how would I know? Yes, this might not look normal, because it’s green and all, but with the holidays coming up this could pass as a Christmas pizza, right?

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!! All I added was sauce and cheese, and it was perfection.

Santa might pine for cookies when he enters your home to deliver gifts, but before his long journey he enjoys a nice peppermint smoothie for some protein, calcium, and fiber. Didn’t you know? Yeah, this is what holds him over for his long journey on Christmas Eve.

Blend all ingredients in a blender, adding soy or almond milk if needed. Top with the peppermint garnish.

Notes

** This is a low FODMAPs recipe. If you are lactose intolerant you should be able to handle the frozen yogurt, as it only has about 8-10 grams of lactose. If you can't handle that much, use a hemp or coconut yogurt.

Nutrition Highlights: Good source of protein and iron, excellent source of fiber and vitamin C.

Although Santa needs the extra calories and fat so he can make it across the World in one night, you may prefer something a bit lighter . So, if you want this to be lower in calories and fat replace the higher fat light coconut milk with almond milk or soy milk. It will still taste fantastic.

And if you do’t have handmade peppermint snow (you don’t?!) just use crushed up candy canes. Easy!

Have a very Merry Christmas! I’ll be back on Thursday with a delicious slow cooker cod chowder.

I’ll be honest, I eat the same thing for breakfast about 330 days of the year (random guess, but I bet I’m pretty close!). The other 35 days, I eat either a new recipe I’ve come up with, or today’s recipe; Egg White and Oat Protein “Pancakes”. Ever since I learned that breakfast is the best time to consume a large amount of protein, I’ve made sure to get at least 20-30 grams of protein in my morning meal. Remember when I posted about the importance of high-protein breakfasts for weight loss and management? Today’s recipe falls short of the 30 gram protein recommendation, but if you jazz it up with a dollop of Greek yogurt, or even a sprinkling of PB2, regular peanut butter, or vanilla whey protein powder, you can easily reach the 30 gram recommendation.

I remember the first time I heard about this recipe one morning on the Today Show. Joy Bauer was talking about her favorite breakfasts and this was one of them. Of course it was slightly different, but the same idea. I jazzed it up with the optional coconut whipped “cream”, berries, and/or Greek yogurt. Like I mentioned above, I’ve also had this with PB2 or peanut butter and unsweetened cocoa powder on top (the PB2 and peanut butter adds flavor and more protein).

Click on the photo to get the recipe for this coconut whipped “cream”.

Just a warning, if you decide to make the coconut whipped “cream”, it’s highly addicting. The first time I made it I almost ate the entire batch, because it really doesn’t make much and it seems so light, fluffy, airy, harmless. I quickly realized that, “Oh yeah, this is full fat coconut milk, concentrated. That’s a lot of calories and fat, perhaps I should slllllow down”. Of course, the saturated fat in coconut is supposed to be a “healthier saturated fat”, but still….

As you can sort of see in the photo, I use sugar free syrup. I know, I know, it’s strange. I do own real maple syrup, but I bought this because sometimes I really like to use a lot of syrup (and Nick always uses a lot of syrup) so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some sugar-free syrup in the house. I really despise most sugar-free foods (they don’t taste good, and their sugar alcohols make me bloated) but for some reason I really love sugar-free syrup. Of course I only use the real stuff in recipes (ie: real maple syrup).

My name is Gina, and I created a monster. No, seriously, a true monster, similar to the Cookie Monster; The Granola Monster (that’s me). I invented the ultimate granola recipe to which I’ve been addicted for over three years now. You see, I created this recipe back when I started my low FODMAPs diet. I couldn’t find any granolas out there that met the following criteria; didn’t contain agave or honey (both have FODMAPs) and didn’t have tons of added sugar (more on added sugar in a couple weeks!). So, I created this granola that involves zero baking, contains zero agave or honey, and requires only a bit of time in the freezer.

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (with just peanuts and salt as an ingredient)

Instructions

In a large casserole dish mix the dry ingredients (oats through nuts). In a medium (microwavable) bowl combine the peanut butters, vanilla and molasses. Nuke in the microwave for ~30 seconds. Take out the bowl and mix until all ingredients are combined. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dried ingredients in the casserole dish. With a clean pair of hands blend all the ingredients together until the dry ingredients are all covered by the wet/nut butter ingredients. Press the granola down into the dish and then freeze overnight.

The next day (or at least 6 hours later) you can start breaking apart the granola and store it in a freezer bag, or keep it in the casserole dish in large chunks. Enjoy the heck out of it!

Notes

** This is a lower FODMAPs recipe. The molasses and almonds do contain FODMAPs, but the small amounts used in the recipe shouldn't cause problems. You could use walnuts and peanuts instead of walnuts and almonds, if you'd prefer to make this granola extremely low FODMAPs.** Bettern' Peanut Butter can be found in most supermarkets, with the other nut butters. See the photo below. If you don't want to use this product, just use all regular peanut butter.** Be sure to use a peanut butter that is natural, but smooth. In other words, most of the "make your own peanut butters" aren't smooth enough for this recipe. I like Nature's Basket (Giant Eagle) or Skippy Natural or JIF Natural for this recipe. Earth Balance or the 365 Brand would be other good options.

Nutrition Highlights: Only 200 calories per serving, and best of all only 3 grams of sugar (this is great for a granola!). Also, a good source of iron and an excellent source of fiber.

Learn more about Better’n Peanut Butter by visiting their website (click on the photo to go directly to their website).

In case you’re wondering why I like this very processed product that is actually not better than peanut butter, it’s because I really think it adds great texture and flavor to this granola. The ingredients in Better’n Peanut Butter may seem strange, but they are all recognizable, just not what you’d normally find in peanut butter. I prefer making my granola with this product, as it does make the granola lower in calories and fat (and I actually prefer the taste of the granola, with this product), however if you’d rather not use it you can use all peanut butter instead (or 1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup almond butter), the granola will still be fantastic.

The granola, once it comes out of the freezer, is basically one giant granola bar at first, then you break it up into small chunks, or large chunks (you can basically make this granola into several granola bars, if you’d like).

I’ll be honest, this recipe is so addicting that I’ve had to put our fresh made batches in the outside freezer so I don’t eat it all day long. At least now I have to think about it before I actually eat some (you know, as I walk outside in the cold to the garage freezer, I have plenty of time to think about whether I’m really hungry, or just bored and have the “boredom munchies”!).

It makes a great holiday gift too (put it in some nice baggies and tie with a bow. Beautiful).

I have been making this granola for many, many years now, but am only now giving out the recipe because I’ve come to terms with the fact that I probably won’t ever really get to sell it like I once hoped. I held on to the recipe for a while simply because I didn’t want anyone knowing the secret! Well, now you know it, and I promise you will thank me one of these days. And if you’re someone who prefers dried fruit or chocolate in your granola and/or granola bars, feel free to add some (I’ve tried both in this recipe in the past and of course they just make the granola even more addicting, especially the chocolate, or peanut butter chips, Nick’s favorite). Enjoy!

Gina, The Candid RD

I'm a registered dietitian working hard to dispel nutrition myths, and to teach people how to live healthy lives without deprivation. My goal is to make nutrition simple, fun and delicious! I also follow a low FODMAPs diet for IBS. Feel free to contact me with questions.

Cooking With Paige

A story book that details a healthy trip through the grocery store, complete with a few recipes for your young ones!

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Disclaimer

This blog is meant to teach and inform you about nutrition and nutrition-related information. It serves as an outlet for my own personal opinions, but is not meant to be used as an absolute source of information. Before using this information to make any changes to your diet or lifestyle, I recommend that you talk to your doctor or local registered dietitian (contact me for options). Also, my low-FODMAPs recipes and recipe modifications are based on research done by the Monash University. Please contact me if you see something that you believe is inaccurate. I like to help, not confuse.